Packaging of wire



Dec. 27, 1960 F. B. KRAFFT ETAL 2,966,258

PACKAGING 0F WIRE Original Filed March 1, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. I

. INVENTORS m FREDERIO a. KRAFFT TS g 9 NK K. ROBER LORENZ BY A WMJZW/Z574 ATTORNEYS Dec. 27, 1960 F. B. KRAFFT ETAL 2 Sheets-Sheet 2INVENTORS FREDERIC B. KRAFFT FRANK K.ROBERTS LEO LORENZ a, fi iATTORNEYS of the container.

United States Patent PACKAGING OF WIRE Frederic B. Kratft, Hastings onHudson, N.Y., and Frank K. Roberts and Leo Lorenz, Muskegon, Mich.,assignors to Anaconda Wire and Cable Company, a corporation of DelawareOriginal application Mar. 1, 1955, Ser. No. 491,258. Divided and thisapplication Feb. 3, 1958, Ser. No. 713,060

4 Claims. (Cl. 206--52) This invention relates to the packing of wire orother filamentary material. More particularly, it relates to thepackaging of such material in a cylindrical container in which thematerial is coiled about a cylindrical core positioned in the containerso as to form an annular space between the core and the walls of thecontainer. While the present invention is applicable in general tomaterials in filamentary form (e.g. cordage, textile fibers). we havefound it to be especially well suited to the packing of wire, and theinvention is therefore particularly described in reference to thepackaging of wire. This application is a division of our applicationSerial No. 491,258, filed March 1, 1955, now Patent No. 2,857,116,granted October 21, 1958.

Heretofore, flanged spools comprising a cylindrical core or barrelprovided with end flanges have been commonly used for packaging wire andthe like. The wire is wound more or less helically about the spoolbarrel between the end flanges, which hold the wire in place and protectit from injury. It is also known to package wire in a cylindricalcontainer having a cylindrical core positioned therein so that anannular space is formed in the container. In such a container, the wireheretofore has been loosely and more or less randomly coiled about thecore in the annular space, and has not been well distributed over thewidth of the annular space of the container.

The use of a cylindrical container for packaging wire offers theadvantage that it is feasible to package large quantities of wire, e.g.hundreds of pounds, in a single length, whereas such large quantitiescannot be conveniently packaged on a metal spool. More wire per packageis a feature which is of interest to operators of automatic coil windersand similar equipment, as it results in less time being consumed inreadying packages of wire for use, and it reduces the amount of timerequired for setting up the machines (an operation which generally mustbe performed each time a package is exhausted). Another advantage ofsuch a package over the flanged spool is that less expensive materialsmay be used in the construction of a cylindrical container. Thus, acontainer suitable for shipping, storing and dispensing wire maycomprise a cylindrical fibreboard barrel having a fibreboard cylinderfor the core, whereas large flanged spools must be constructed wholly ofheavy gauge metal, or of wood and metal, and are relatively expensive,as well as clumsy to handle, and must themselves be packaged forshipping. The container according to the present invention, althoughcarrying much more wire, can be easily handled with a conventional handtruck. Furthermore, because of the unique manner in which the wire islaid in the container the vibration and blows incident to shipping willnot entangle the turns of wire.

The present invention provides a package of filamentary material (e.g.bare, insulated or stranded wire, cordage, or the like) comprising acylindrical container in which a cylindrical core is coaxiallypositioned so as to form an annular space between the core and the wallsThe material is coiled in open, substantially flat, spiral layers, andsubstantially fills this annular space. The package of the invention hasthe advantages that more material is contained in a cylindricalcontainer of given size, and that, as above indicated, the likelihood ofentanglement of the material when it is unwound is substantiallyavoided.

Heretofore, filamentary material has commonly been packaged incylindrical containers by feeding the material at a constant linearvelocity into the container while rotating the container at a constantperipheral velocity. When the material is packaged in this way, it tendsto accumulate as a closely wound coil having a circumference equal tothat of the circle about the axis of the container where thecircumferential velocity is equal to the linear velocity at which thewire is fed into the container. In consequence the material does notdistribute itself uniformly over any substantial portion of thecross-sectional area of the annular package space.

By the present invention, the filamentary material is packaged in acylindrical container in the form of a stack of substantially flatspiral coils disposed one over the other. The method comprises feedingthe material into the container, rotating the container at a peripheralvelocity which at all times exceeds the linear velocity at which thematerial is fed into the container, and alternately increasing anddecreasing the ratio of the rate at which the container is rotated andthe rate at which the material is fed into the container. By this methodthe material is spirally coiled in the container in the form of a stackof substantially flat superposed layers. The rate at which the materialis fed into the container may be varied while the rate of rotation ofthe container is maintained constant, or the rate at which the materialis fed into the container may be maintained constant while the rate ofrotation of the container is varied. Of course, both of these rates maybe varied, but ordinarily there will be no advantage in operating inthis manner.

According to the invention the material is fed into the container at asubstantially constant linear velocity, and the container is rotated ata peripheral velocity which at all times exceeds the linear velocity atwhich the wire is fed into the container (i.e. the peripheral velocityof the inside surface of the cylindrical container wall at all timesexceeds the linear velocity at which the wire is fed into the container)and the rate of rotation of the container is cyclically varied byalternately increasing said rate at an increasing rate of increase anddecreasing said rate at a decreasing rate of decrease. Thereby, spiralcoils are obtained in which the turns thereof are substantially evenlyspaced.

The present invention may be better understood by reference to thefollowing drawings in which,

Fig. 1 is an elevation view in partial section of a package of wireaccording to the invention;

Fig. 2 is a top plan View of the package of wire shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a view on an enlarged scale taken along line 33 of Fig. l; and

Fig. 4 is a schematic drawing of apparatus for forming the package ofFig. 1.

Referring to Figs. 1, 2 and 3, there is shown a package 6 of wirecomprising a cylindrical container 7 and magnet wire 8. The cylindricalcontainer is formed of a cylindrical outer shell 9 which forms thecylindrical walls of the container, a bottom closure 11, and acylindrical core 12. The cylindrical container may conveniently consistof a fibreboard barrel of the type which is commonly usedfor theshipment of materials in bulk. The cylindrical core is coaxiallypositioned in the cylindrical outer shell, and with it defines anannular space 13. A glue flap 14 may be provided to glue the cylindricalcore to the bottom closure so that the core is secured in place PatentedDec. 27, 1960.

in the container. Thereby, shifting of the core is preven e The magnetwire 8 is in a single length (perhaps made up of lengths that have beenjoined together), and is coiled in substantially flat spiral layers 16which substantially fill the annular space 13. The wire in each of thelayers 16 is in the form of an open spiral extending between thecylindrical core and the cylindrical walls of the container andfillssubstantially the entire width of the annular space. The openspiral form of the layers 16 is best seen in Fig. 2, where the spiralform of the top layer of wire in the package 6 is shown. As the wire iswound in one direction about the spool (e.g. clockwise) the pitchdirection of the spiral coils is reversed from layer to layer, i.e. onelayer spirals out from the cylindrical core and the next spirals in fromthe walls of the cylindrical container. Thus, adjacent layer spiral inopposite directions so that the wire of one layer crosses at points ofcontact over the wire of the layer immediately below. This arrangementof thewire is seen in Fig. 3 where the wires of layer 1611 spiral in onedirection and the wires of layer 16a spiral in the opposite direction.The crossing of the wire of adjacent layers tends to prevent wire of onelayer from falling into the space between turns of lower layers,because, as shown, these spaces are likely to be wider than the diameterof the wire. This manner of crossing the wires minimizes any risk thatthe coils in the container may become locked together or entangled,especially as the result of vibration and rough handling of thecontainer.

In the interest of clarity, only the top layer of magnet wire has beenshown in Fig. l and only two layers have been shown in Fig. 3. Actually,other layers would be seen in each of these views through the spacesbetween the turnsof wire. Furthen the magnet wire 8 will usually be muchsmaller in proportion to the size of the container than is indicated inFigs. 1, 2, and 3. For example, in a typical case the width of theannular space is three or four inches and the magnet wire, although itmay be as much as inch in diameter, is frequently considerably smallerthan this.

The package of the invention is characterized in that the wire in thecontainer is arranged in a stack of superposed substantially fiat spiralcoils. As a consequence of this arrangement considerably more wire ispackaged in a cylindrical container of given size than has been possibleheretofore. A package of wire according to the invention comprising, forexample, a cylindrieal container having an annular space 20 inches inoutside diameter, 13 inches in insidediamcter, and 30 inches in height,may contain about 750 pounds of enameled or equivalent filminsulatedcopper magnet wire (which corresponds to a bulk density of about 240pounds per cubic foot) whereas corresponding packages of this type ofwire heretofore known contained not more than about 600 pounds of wire(which corresponds to a bulk density of about 190 pounds per cubicfoot). In accordance with the invention, bulk densities of packagedfilm-insulated copper magnet Wire above 200 pounds per cubic foot arereadily and consistently obtained, as are correspondingly high bulkdensities for other materials.

Fig. 4 shows apparatus suitable for packaging wire according to theinvention. A wire 21 which is to be packaged according to the inventionis fed into a container 31 by passing it between a drive wheel 22 and anidler 23. The drive wheel is mounted on a shaft 24 which is driven by amotor 26 through a sprocket chain 27 and gears 28. The idler 23 pressesthe wire firmly into driving engagement against the drive wheel 22 sothat the wire is pushed by the drive wheel through a guide conduit 29.

The cylindrical container 31, shown partially broken away, is mounted ona container carrier 36 with the axis of the cylindrical containersubstantially vertical. The cylindrical container comprises an outercylindrical shell 32 and is provided with a cylindrical core 33positioned in the cylindrical container, forming an annular space 34therein. The container carrier 36 is mounted on a shaft 37 which isdriven by a belt 38.

The wire 21 is directed by the guide conduit 29 to a fixed point 30 overthe annular space 34. From the point 30, the wire falls by gravity. Thecontainer rotates with the container carrier, and as it does so thatadvancing wire emerging from the guide conduit 29 coils and drops. intothe annular space of the container.

The belt 38, held taut by an idler 39,, is driven by a variable speeddrive indicated at 40, so that the rate of rotation of the cylindricalcontainer may be alternately increased and decreased. The variable speeddrive comprises a variable diameter pulley unit 4-1 which is driven fromthe shaft 24 through a chain 42 connected to the pulley unit drive shaft43; This variable diameter pulley unit in turn drives the belt 38. Theoutput speed of the variable diameter pulley unit 41 (and hence thespeed with which the carrier 36 is rotated) is cyclically increased andvdecreased by alternately moving up and down the control arm 44 of thevariable diameter pulley mechanism. This operation in turn is effectedby rotation in alternately opposite directions of a control shaft 45.The shaft 45 is driven through a chain drive 46 and gearing 47, which inturn is connected through a variable speed drive unit 43 to a reversibleelectric motor 50. The motor is energized from a power line 51 through alimit switch assembly 52.v Each time the control arm 44 reaches a limitof its travel, it engages the limit switch assembly and causes thedirection of the motor 50 to be reversed.

As stated above, it is preferred to cyclically increase at an increasingrate, and decrease at a decreasing rate, the rate of rotation of thecarrier 36. The variable speed drive unit 48 provides for doing so. Thecontrol shaft 55 of this unit, by which the speed of its output shaft 56may be varied, is connected by a sprocket chain drive 57 to its outputshaft. Accordingly, as the output shaft 56 turns in a direction toincrease the rate at which the carrier 36 is rotated through thevariable diameter pulley unit 41, the control shaft 55 is rotated in adirection to increase the rate at which the shaft 56 is itself rotated.When the shaft 56 is rotated in the opposite direction, so that thevariable diameter pulley assembly 41 is being actuated to decrease therate of rotation of the carrier 36, the control shaft 55 is likewisebeing driven in the direction which causes the drive shaft 56 to slowdown. The apparatus thus provides automatically for cyclicallyincreasing the rate of rotation of the carrier 36 at a continuouslyincreasing rate and decreasing its rate of rotation at a continuouslydecreasing rate.

According to the invention the ratio of' the rate at which the containeris rotated and the rate at which the wire is fed into the container isalternately increased and decreased between maximum and minimum rates.As this ratio is increased from a minimum to a maximum rate wire fedinto the container falls along a curved path of ever decreasing radiusof curvature (i.e. the wire spirals in from the cylindrical walls of thecontainer). After this ratio has reached the maximum, it is decreased,and as it decreases the wire tends to fall along a curved path of everincreasing radius ofcurvature (i.e. the wire spirals out to thecylindrical walls of the container). In order to obtain substantiallyfiat superposed layers of wire, the minimum ratio must always be suchthat the peripheral velocity of the container (i.e. the velocity of theinside surface of the cylindrical container wall) is greater than thelinear velocity at which the wire is fed into the container; for,otherwise, the wire would tend to fall along a path having a radius ofcurvature greater than the radius of the container and, as the containerwall would preclude the wire following such a path, the wire would humpup and not form a flat layer. Similarly, the maximum ratio must notexceed that at which the peripheral velocity of the outside surface ofthe container core is equal to the linear velocity of the wire fed intothe container, otherwise the wire will be pulled tightly against thecontainer core and damage to either the wire or its packaging is likelyto result.

The rate of change from minimum to maximum of the ratio of the rate atwhich the container is rotated to the rate at which wire is fed into thecontainer determines the spacing between turns of the spiral, and may beadjusted as desired. The rate at which this ratio is changed shouldpreferably be of sufficient magnitude so that each turn of a spiralfalls outside (or inside) the preceding turn, i.e., when the radius ofcurvature of the path which the wire tends to follow is decreasing, themagnitude of the rate at which the ratio is being increased should besufficient so that each turn of the spiral falls inside the precedingturn; and when the radius of curvature of the path which the wire tendsto follow is increasing, the magnitude of the rate at which the ratio isbeing decreased should be sutficient so that each turn of the spiralfalls outside the preceding turn.

We claim:

1. A package of filamentary material suitable for shipping and the like,comprising a cylindrical container having a cylindrical wall and acylindrical core coaxially positioned therein to define an annular spacebetween said core and said Wall, at least one continuous length offlexible filamentary material coiled in a plurality of substantiallyflat spiral layers in said annular space, said spiral layers extendingalternately substantially from said core to said wall and substantiallyfrom said wall to said core, the respective turns of each layer beingspaced apart, and the lay of the turns of each layer with respect to thelay of the turns of the layer immediately beneath it being such thatsaid turns cross each other at an angle so as to preclude the turns ofany layer from falling into the spaces between adjacent turns of thelayer beneath it.

2. A package of magnet wire suitable for shipping and the like,comprising a cylindrical container having a cylindrical wall and acylindrical core coaxially positioned therein and defining an annularspace between said core and said Wall, at least one continuous length offlexible wire coiled in said space in a plurality of substantially flatspiral layers, each of said layers having substantially the form of anopen spiral, said spiral layers extending alternately substantially fromsaid core to said wall and substantially from said wall to said core,the respective turns of each layer being spaced apart, the pitchdirection of the spiral coils being reversed from layer to layer so thatadjacent layers of the wire spiral in opposite directions and the pitchof the turns of each layer with respect to the pitch of the turns of thelayer immediately beneath it being so great as to preclude the turns ofany layer from falling into the spaces between adiacent turns of thelayers beneath it.

3. A package of magnet wire suitable for shipping and the like,comprising a cylindrical container having a cylindrical wall and acylindrical core coaxially positioned therein and defining an annularspace between said core and said wall, at least one continuous length offlexible wire coiled in said annular space in a plurality ofsubstantially fiat spiral layers, said layers substantially filling saidannular space, each of said layers having substantially the form of anopen spiral, said spiral layers extending alternately substantially fromsaid core to said wall and substantially from said wall to said core,the respective turns of each layer being spaced apart by a distance atleast equal to the diameter of the wire, the pitch direction of thespiral coils being reversed from layer to layer so that adjacent layersof the wire spiral in opposite directions and the pitch of the turns ofeach layer with respect to the pitch of the turns of the layerimmediately beneath it being so great as to preclude the turns of anylayer from falling into the spaces between the turns of the layersbeneath it.

4-. A package of flexible, smooth-surfaced magnet wire suitable forshipping and the like, comprising a cylindrical container having acylindrical wall and a cylindrical core coaxially positioned Within saidwall and defining an annular space between said core and said wall, atleast one continuous length of said magnet Wire coiled in a plurality ofsubstantially fiat spiral layers substantially filling said annularspace, each of said layers being laid in the form of a spiral, saidspiral layers extending alternately substantially from said core to saidwall and substantially from said wall to said core, the turns of eachspiral being substantially evenly spaced and mutually separated by adistance greater than the diameter of said wire, the pitch direction ofsaid spirals being reversed in consecutive layers so that adjacentlayers of said wire spiral in opposite directions and contact each otherat points of crossing, and the angles between the turns at the points ofcontact being so great that the turns of each layer are precluded fromfalling into the spaces between turns of the layer beneath it.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,676,606 Albright July 10, 1928 1,992,430 Johnson Feb. 26, 19352,849,195 Richardson Aug. 26, 1958

